Where Do We Go From Here?
by Rebecca J. McKeller
Summary: My idea of what should have happened in Unending. DV have kids, but what happens when they reverse time? *finished*
1. Prologue

**This story is my idea of what could/should have happened for Unending. The first bit is the same, but the rest is wildly different. Hope you like it... **

**The story starts a few weeks after that fateful night when Daniel and Vala got together (finally!!).**

****

"Daniel?" Vala moaned as she arrived at his quarters. She didn't look as she normally did when she came to see him. There were no fancy hair clips or tight lingerie. Her hair was a mess and the thick bags under her eyes indicated that no sleep had begotten her the night before. She rubbed her eyes and collapsed on his bed as soon as she entered.

"Vala?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

She rolled over to look at him. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, she got a whiff of his new cologne. Within seconds she'd pulled herself off of the bed and run into the nearest washroom.

"Vala?" Daniel called again, following her as quickly as he could.

She'd locked the door, so he couldn't get in. He banged on it as loudly as he could. "Vala? Are you alright in there?"

She emerged a few minutes later looking even more miserable than she had before, if that was possible.

"You look terrible!" he exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

"Thanks, darling, you look wonderful too," she scoffed. She ignored his latter question and went back to her own bed, since his still smelled wretched, curling up and closing her eyes.

"You are not getting off the hook that easily," he told her in a firm voice. Softening, he ran his fingers through her long hair. "Vala, please tell me what's wrong."

She didn't look at him. She just pulled the blankets up higher and mumbled, "I'm pregnant."

Daniel's eyes went wide. He couldn't possibly have heard her correctly. "Wh-what?"

She closed her eyes without a word and fell asleep beside him.

***

"Whoa man," Cam exclaimed. "She's pregnant?"

"Who's pregnant?" Sam asked, wandering into the room. Then, upon the quick realization that there were only two girls on the ship and she was fairly confident they weren't talking about her, she exclaimed, "Vala's pregnant?!"

"Aw, jeez," Daniel groaned. "Don't tell her you know. She was really excited to tell you," he said to Sam. "Actually," he said, turning back to Cam, "same goes for you. I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to tell anyone. So both of you – be quiet!"

Sam made the motion of locking her mouth with a key and Cam smirked and nodded.

Cam opened his mouth to provide the group with a sarcastic comment, but Vala walked in at that moment. Her hair was pulled in a loose ponytail and her face was bare of make-up. She plopped down next to Daniel and rested her head in her arms, which were folded on top of the table. She took a deep sigh and closed her eyes.

"You okay, honey?" Daniel said, stroking her back. "Do you want something no eat?"

"No food," she moaned, not bothering to look up.

"Morning sickness?" Sam asked. She clamped her hand to her mouth, hoping Vala hadn't heard.

Vala's head shot up and she glared at Daniel with icy eyes. "You told them?" she hissed.

"I, uh," he started.

She didn't wait for him to finish. Instead she stormed out of the room, leaving him glaring at the traitor. He got up to follow her, but Sam grabbed his arm. "Just wait," she told him. "She'll cool down. She's just hormonal. She'll get over it soon enough, if you leave her alone."

There was silence for a few minutes until Teal'c walked into the room. "Congratulations, Daniel Jackson," he said with a nod of his head.

Daniel cocked his head slightly. "Uh..."

"Vala Mal Doran informed me that she is pregnant."

"Oh, yeah," Daniel replied. Vala must be off telling the General now, jumping the gun before he could get to them, he assumed. He smiled. "Thanks."

***

Vala walked through the halls of the Odyssey, her large pregnant belly protruding in front of her. This time was different than when she'd been carrying Adria. She couldn't explain why, but she suspected it was at least in part due to the fact that she knew this child was not the spawn of the Ori, and possibly even more because of how much she loved its father. She could feel it squirming around inside her. She was excited about the baby, and not just because it would give her something to focus on, besides that they were stuck in that awful ship.

She felt really sick that day, though. Her excitement was often crushed by a wave of nausea, but today it seemed even worse. Thankfully her team members had learned not to eat around her, as well as not to wear any perfume or cologne. She was headed toward the commissary, since she was always hungry. She'd told Sam to make sure to have cheetoes and strawberry ice cream ready for her and was delighted to see her friend had come through for her. She sat down to eat, shoving the sweet cheesy treat into her mouth. She could hear Cam make fake gagging noises in the back of her mind, even though for once he wasn't there to mock her eating habits.

She stopped abruptly, holding a ice cream-covered cheeto outside her mouth, which quickly began dripping onto her uniform.

"Ow," she squeaked. She dropped the food and looked over at her friend. "Sam?"

"Yeah?" Sam asked, turning from the window to Vala.

"I'm in labor," she replied, a little too matter-of-factly.

Sam's eyes went wide. She whipped out her radio and called Daniel to meet them in the infirmary. She put her arm around Vala for support and helped her friend as best she could.

***

Although she was told it was only a seven hours of labor, Vala was convinced it was more like seven days. Her whole body ached and she wished for the first time that Adria was around to heal her. She saw Daniel take hold of a tiny crying bundle and bring it toward her.

"This is our son," he said, handing the baby to its mother.

Vala smiled down at the baby. "Worth it," she mumbled. "So, Daniel, what are we going to name him?"

***

"Hey!" Daniel called, chasing the little boy down the halls. "Johnny, slow down!" He chuckled and groaned at the same time as the child picked up his pace.

They passed Vala in the halls and Daniel called out, "Hey, Mom, how about a little help here."

"I'm not feeling well, darling."

He paused for a moment to look up at her. She smiled. "I'm pregnant again."


	2. Problem Solved

**Forgot to write this in the first chapter. This story is for the people at CBO. **Shout out to Meagan****

**Hope you guys like it! (And everyone else, too!)**

**Reviews are always appreciated.**

***

They'd spent their entire lives on the ship. They'd been told all about Earth and thousands of other planets in their galaxy. But they'd never been to any of them.

These children were brilliant. Not just in the eyes of their parents, but the rest of the shipmates. The whole world would have agreed if they had ever met these kids. They'd inherited their mother's wit, as well. It was more than just having Samantha Carter to teach them math and science, and their father to teach them about language, history and culture. It was something deep inside them.

They were beautiful too, him with shiny grey eyes and her with sky blue. Both had thick dark hair, just like their mother. They were tall and strong, thanks to their training with Teal'c.

But with all of their beauty, brilliance and skill, they had never been allowed to experience anything like normal Earth children their age. They had never been swimming, or taken a walk down a beach. They had never seen a sunrise or a sunset. They'd never picked flowers or skipped down the street. They'd never even lived in a proper home. All they knew was life on this ship.

But they were doing their damnedest to get out.

***

"So if you..." Emerald trailed off, scribbling madly on the sheet. Sam walked over to see what she was writing.

"That might work," Sam muttered. "We'll run a few simulations through the computer."

Emmy nodded and started entering equations into the computer.

Sam crossed the room for a glass of water, preparing herself for another failed attempt at escape. She'd been trapped for twenty-six years now and, truth be told, she'd lost all hope over a decade before. She only continued her attempts to keep herself occupied, and to appease the kids, who dreamed of one day experiencing a life free from these walls. She felt bad for them, never able to lead normal lives.

She stared down at an old notebook, filled with inane scribblings. She'd solved so many problems. All except their own. It would all be lost if they ever found a way back.

"Sam!" Emmy exclaimed. "Come see this!"

Sam crossed the room to stand beside her goddaughter. She studied the screen. "It's working," she said in amazement. You've figured out how to reverse time."

"Only by a minute or so, but I think it should be enough."

"More than enough if we work it all out correctly."

Emmy hesitated. "Johnny and I will stay behind?" she asked. Sam was silent for a moment. "Look, I know it screws with the natural order of things. But I think we can work it out."

Sam looked at the ground, wondering how much danger there would be in creating a paradox by allowing Johnny and Emmy to stay back. She couldn't stand the idea of their ceasing to exist. Allowing her love for them to get in the way of her logic, she agreed.

***

They were all gathered in the commissary for dinner. Sam and Emmy exchanged glances. Sam cleared her throat.

"We have an announcement," she said.

Everybody looked up from their food, excited about the prospect of something finally happening.

"Emmy figured out how to turn back the time, so we avoid ever being stuck in this situation."

Daniel and Vala both dawned looks of pride and beamed at their daughter's achievement.

"What about us?" Johnny asked. "We will never have been born."

"Well in order to generate the power needed to reverse time, we're going to have to be hit by the beam. Then time will reverse. You and I are going to be shielded from the blast."

Johnny nodded. He bit his lip, knowing the impact this would have on everyone's lives.

***

That night was a mixture of sadness, fear and happiness for everyone. Their lives were ending, in one sense, but opening up to a brighter future in another. There was remorse amongst all of them that their memories would soon be wiped clean, even if their youth would be restored. They'd developed a much deeper bond since being trapped, even if it did mean sometimes they wanted to kill each other.

For Emmy and Johnny, the idea seemed more surreal than anything. Their sadness was not for the life they'd leave behind, but for the people. They knew their parents wouldn't even know them. They'd only have each other. Their fear stemmed from the lying they would have to do. Of course, they'd been taught by the best, but they hadn't had much chance to use their skills.

Daniel and Vala had, perhaps, the hardest time with what was happening. They couldn't stand the thought of losing each other, no matter how much they hated the ship. Their only comfort stemmed from the prospect of their children's new chance at leading semi-normal lives. They remained in silence all night, Vala curled up in Daniel's arms. When they woke in the morning, they shared one last passionate kiss and whispered, "I love you," to one another.

***

They decided not to waste any time. Sam handed Johnny the crystals with the necessary programming adjustments. Both were well-versed in what to do, and hid their nerves well.

There were a few quick hugs, but none of them wanted the inevitable tears. Johnny and Emmy exchanged looks and nodded. The shield was activated. Daniel and Vala hugged as Sam initiated the proper sequences.

Johnny and Emmy wasted no time when they were released from their shields. They ran to stop Sam from initiating the time dilation field. When they got to her, they worked as fast as they could together. She considered stopping them, fearing the intruders, but didn't get to her zat gun in time. They'd completed their task only seconds before being stunned.


	3. Questions

**It appears my formatting keeps being screwed up! Sorry. Hopefully my stars to break up time will show up on this one...**

**For the excellent people at CBO. This one goes out to Timzy.**

**Enjoy!! Reviews are always appreciated!!**

***

Emmy woke with a start and looked frantically around the room. It was a room she knew well, yet it seemed different today. She heard someone clear their throat and she looked up to see a familiar face.

"Sam?" she asked, confused. It looked like Sam, but she was much too young.

Emmy tried to lift an arm to rub her eyes and felt a tugging, keeping her from doing so. She looked down to see that she had been restrained. Her eyes went wide with fear.

She heard some yelling from across the room and discovered her brother was fighting with all his strength to break free of his own restraints. Her thoughts were broken with the sound of her godmother's voice.

"How'd you get on the ship?"

Emmy fell back on her bed, finally remembering what had happened. She bit her lip.

"Let me out of here!" she heard her brother demand.

"Johnny!" she yelled back. "Calm down! Yelling won't exactly encourage them to believe we're not here to kill them!"

Sam raised an eyebrow.

Emmy looked back at the woman who'd been like another mother to her. The woman who no longer knew who she was. "Look," she began, "we haven't come to hurt anyone. You were about to be destroyed by an Ori ship. You were going to put the ship into a time dilation bubble." Emmy paused. "We came to help. So you wouldn't have to spent the next twenty-six years trapped on this ship."

"How did you know that?" Sam questioned.

Emmy and Johnny exchanged looks. "We're from the future," Johnny said, realizing how ridiculous it sounded.

"From the future?"

How were they supposed to explain this without giving away who they were? "We, uhm," Emmy choked on her words. "We know what happened – or, what was going to happen – and we stopped you. We fixed the problems. We turned off the Asguard Core so the Ori couldn't track you anymore. We only wanted to help. You can even check the crystals we put in, if you like. I promise they're just to help." She cleared her throat. "We just want to leave. Promise, we'll never interfere again!"

"You came all the way to the future just to stop us from being stuck in a time dilation bubble?" Sam asked sceptically.

Emmy and Johnny nodded.

"Why?"

"It's, uhm, hard to explain. It's just really important for, uhm, Earth's survival," Emmy stuttered.

"You have saved the world a number of times," Johnny added. "Haven't you?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"So we just came to make sure Earth didn't lose its most valuable defence," Emmy interrupted.

"Uh-huh," Sam replied as she turned to leave.

"Wait," Johnny called. She stopped and turned back. "Can you please undo these restraints?"

Without a word, Sam continued out of the ship's infirmary.

"So much for gratitude," Johnny grumbled sarcastically.

"Can you blame them?" Emmy asked. "They have no idea who we are. We just popped in and started playing with their ship!" She sighed. "And we can't even tell them who we are or why we came," she added with a low, melancholy voice.

"I know," Johnny conceded.

***

Vala wandered into the infirmary to visit the unexpected visitors. Everyone else was on-edge about the newcomers, but she wasn't worried. She'd be able to tell if they were lying to her. Plus, prying for information from them would distract her from her immense boredom being cooped up on the Odyssey.

"Hello!" she greeted them, skipping into the room.

Emmy sucked in her breath and Johnny choked on his words. They exchanged a look which was a combination of so many different emotions that it's impossible to completely describe.

"I'm Vala," she introduced herself. Both of the kids were silent.

"We know," Emmy squeaked quietly.

Vala ignored the comment. "Any you are...?"

It couldn't hurt to tell just their names, could it?

"I'm Jonathan, and that's my sister, Emerald." He went to wave a hand at her, but was once again disappointed by the binding.

Vala saw his frustration and decided to use it to her advantage. She walked over to him and lightly stroked her fingers against his chest, sliding them down to his bound wrist. "Do you want some help with that, darling?" she asked in a sultry voice. She winked at him.

Johnny looked at her with wide eyes and squirmed as far away as he could manage, which wasn't very far. "No!" he exclaimed, in a much higher pitch than he'd used since his voice changed years before.

Emmy stifled a laugh at her brother's discomfort, but had to admit, she felt incredibly uncomfortable herself.

A flicker of discouragement passed over Vala's face, but it quickly disappeared. She just stood, pretending nothing had happened.

"So what brings you to our little corner of nowhere," she asked with a hint of resentment in her voice.

"Oh, y'know, this and that," Johnny managed. "Saving all your asses and getting tied up in return."

Emmy shot a glare at her brother.

"Yes, but what I don't get is why you were trying to save us in the first place," Vala remarked.

"We already explained this to Sam," Johnny mumbled angrily.

Vala looked over at Emmy for a response.

Emmy rolled her eyes. "You were gonna be trapped in a time dilation bubble if we didn't," she explained again. "We just wanted to stop that from happening. For the good of the Earth and all the other planets in this galaxy."

"Sam said you claim to be from the future?"

Emmy nodded.

"Well, if you're from the future, then how did you know we were trapped in a time bubble thingy, instead of just blown to tiny bits by the Ori ship?"

"Pfft, you'd be surprised how far technology has come in the time you missed," Emmy lied.

"Well how did you get here?"

"We can't tell you that," Emmy replied.

"A magician never reveals his tricks," Johnny added.

Vala sighed, slapping both hands on her thighs as she stood up and left.

It was only minutes before Mitchell, Jackson and Teal'c joined the duo.

"What, are they tag-teaming us now?" Johnny asked Emmy with a roll of his eyes.

Teal'c walked calmly over to Johnny and towered over him with an intimidating look planted on his face. His stance was powerful, and probably would have scared anyone else, but Johnny had spent so long with him that he knew deep down Teal'c wasn't nearly as intimidating as he appeared. Still, a slight shiver ran down his spine. The Teal'c he'd known had also known him since birth. This one had no idea who he was or if he was even on their side. He did his best to cover his fear.

Daniel approached Emerald, looking far less powerful and scary than his teammate. As he looked down at her, he couldn't help but feel a strange nudging in his stomach, a feeling like he should know her. Her eyes mirrored his so closely that he couldn't help but feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Outwardly, he showed no sign of this, though, and took in a deep breath.

"Why are you here?"

"Oh for goodness' sake!" Johnny exclaimed. "Stop asking us that! For the hundredth time, we came to save you so that the Earth would have a fighting chance in future battles with the Ori. Okay? Got it? Maybe you want to write it down so you don't forget and come in to ask us a fourth time!"

Teal'c glared down at him and he shut up instantly, muttering, "Sorry," under his breath.

"How do we know _you're_ not Ori followers?" Cam asked.

Emmy shot him a look to indicate the stupidity of the question. "Because we would've just let you die in the blast."

It continued for awhile, the question and answer period, with the men asking serious questions and the prisoners answering sarcastically. Even Emmy was losing her patience. They were much more fun when they'd been trapped. Still, deep down, they knew this would all be over if they just explained who they really were, but neither could bear to interfere with future events more than they already had.

***

"They're lying," Vala proclaimed, once all of SG-1 and General Landry had gathered around a table in the commissary.

"About what?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't know," she replied, "but they're definitely lying about _something_."

"Well you're going to need to be more specific," Daniel said.

"Well until we know for sure if they're on our side or not, we should keep them contained. If they're really from the future, they could have knowledge and technology we've never even dreamed of," Sam stated. "They could potentially be a major threat."


	4. Revelations

**Okay, so the last chapter wasn't all that good, in my opinion, but I think this one is better. Stuff actually happens in this one.**

**For the people at CBO! Shout out to Zoe!**

***

It wasn't long before the Odyssey arrived back on Earth and the prisoners were taken to the infirmary for some tests, and then put in separate quarters, which were both guarded. They weren't allowed to walk freely around the base, in case they were working as Ori spies, which wouldn't be anything new. Both knew they could get out if they really wanted to, but they were also not used to deception. It was also hard for them, leaving their family, even if they weren't remembered. Instead, they remained locked in their rooms.

Emmy did break out for a few minutes, just long enough to steal a few of her father's books from his study. Johnny did as well, to gather a few of Sam's notes on a particular weapon's project she'd told him about on the Odyssey. This was one of those times when they truly appreciated being the children of Vala Mal Doran.

Emmy sat alone in the room, trying not to notice how grey and depressing it was in there. She read the books, fascinated, pausing every once in awhile to make a couple small notes and corrections in the margins. She sang quietly to herself every once in awhile – just some short ditties that her mother had taught her as a child. Not once was she disturbed.

Johnny was in a similar state as he corrected some of Sam's equations. For two days he was alone, besides the few times someone would come to drop off a tray of food. He was going insane in that small room. At least on the ship he'd had some room to move around. He broke out a few more times just so he wasn't cooped up in there anymore.

He sighed as he flipped over the last page of notes and leaned back in his chair. That was when he'd spotted the DVD player and small television in the corner. He had no real desire to use it to watch television. Instead, he inspected the machine he'd only ever been told about. He stared at it for a moment, wishing he had the tools to do something with it besides just breaking it. Reluctantly, he placed it back on the shelf and opened the cupboard beneath to look at the collection.

Johnny slapped his hand against his forehead as he read the titles of the films. In what universe would he want to watch _Legally Blonde_? Sighing again, he picked up the first one that looked remotely interesting and popped it into the player and took a seat on his bed to watch it. He really didn't see how people could enjoy such an activity.

***

"Carolyn," General Landry began as he strolled into the infirmary. "At ease," he told the others in the room. "Have you found out anything about our guests?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "That's why I called you up here." She looked over at the members of SG-1 who had gathered in the center of the room. "I'm just waiting on Vala," she paused. "She really needs to be here for this."

The general nodded and joined the group. Immediately Sam's stance became straighter, but he hadn't been paying enough attention to notice. Cam cracked a joke about why Vala was late and they all forced laughter, but the look on Carolyn's face was leaving them all on edge. This was something important.

Vala ran into the room a few minutes later, her hair and make-up obviously freshly done. Daniel rolled his eyes, realizing that was the reason she was late.

"Hello," she sang, skipping up to them.

Doctor Lam approached them with a serious expression. She looked somewhat nervous. "Well, the good news is," she said, jumping right into it, "I highly doubt these kids are here to harm you or to spy on SG-1."

"What makes you say that?" Daniel asked.

Carolyn bit her lip. She looked from Daniel to Vala. "They said they were from the future," she said, "but they didn't say where. I'm willing to bet they lived on the Odyssey with you." All of them looked puzzled and she continued. "They're your children," she said, looking at Vala and then at Daniel.

Daniel coughed. "Whose children?" he asked, hoping he'd misinterpreted what she'd just said.

Carolyn cleared her throat and forced herself to look him in the eye. "Yours," she paused to turn, "and Vala's."

Daniel and Vala both turned pale and looked as if they were about to pass out. Sam, Cam and Teal'c all had mixed expressions. Cam's initial reaction was to burst out laughing, but he managed to contain himself. He knew this was going to be hard to them to take in and it would be insensitive of him to make light of it. Sam looked worried about her friends, but she couldn't help the glint of amusement which had formed in her eyes at the idea of Daniel and Vala getting together. She knew they'd always kind of liked each other, but she had never really thought anything would happen. Teal'c dawned an expression of concern, as well, though it was clear this had peaked his interest. Daniel and Vala refused to look at each other, partly for embarrassment, but mostly for fear of the other's reaction.

"A-are you sure?" Vala stammered.

Carolyn nodded. "I redid the tests several times and they all point to the same conclusion."

Vala swallowed and closed her eyes, putting her head in her hand for a moment. She took a deep breath and looked up, trying to read Daniel's expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to the punch.

He shook his head and said, "I've got some work to get done." He turned and walked out of the infirmary, leaving Vala to deal with this.

She wanted to leave, to pretend this wasn't happening, but she couldn't feel her legs enough to force movement. Sam put her hand on her friend's shoulder and led her to a nearby bed to sit down.

"Vala?" she whispered. "Are you okay?"

Vala was silent for a moment, staring at the floor. She took in a deep breath and looked at Sam, blinking back the tears why had reluctantly filled her eyes. "I'm fine," she stuttered, obviously lying. "I've got to go."

She practically sprinted out of the room. Sam watched her friend leave and sighed, wishing there was more she could do to help – but she knew that when Vala didn't want to share something, there would be no getting it out of her.


	5. Meetings

**Alright, so this takes place a few hours after the last one. That's mentioned, but for the skimmers, I thought I'd point it out.**

**For the people on CBO. Here's a shout out to Vala!**

*******

Emmy jumped at the sound of a knock on her door. Flustered for a moment, she sat up in her bed and finger-combed her hair.

"Come in," she called.

Daniel poked his head in the door and Emmy straightened up from her slouched positioned. "Da-Daniel," she stuttered.

"Hi," he greeted, walking further into the room. "M-may I?" He gestured toward the bed.

"Uh, yeah."

"So...you're my..." he trailed off, unable to say the word.

She nodded. "How'd you find out?"

"Doctor Lam told us."

Emmy nodded, remaining quiet for a moment. "So you're okay with it?" she finally squeaked.

He took in a deep breath. "Honestly? I'm not sure. We only found out a couple of hours ago. I went to my office and worked for awhile, but I couldn't help but feel I had to come see you," he said. "I thought at least I should meet you."

He sat beside her awkwardly. They sat in silence for a few moments. He noticed his books on her desk. He chuckled.

"I thought you were supposed to be in here the whole time," he remarked, pointing to the stack.

"I was bored?" she shrugged.

"Your mother taught you well."

"I learned from the best."

"Yes, you certainly did." He looked closely at her for the first time, noticing just how many of his features she embodied. She had her mother's hair and her pale skin, but her eyes were just the same as his and she definitely had the same nose and cheekbones. Looking at her now, he realized he should have seen the full extent of the resemblance before.

He turned his attention back to the books. "So, you share my interest in languages?"

"Mom...Vala always said I was just being a suck-up, but I really do enjoy it. You taught me eighteen languages in my spare time. I worked mostly with Sam on how to find a way back."

"Only eighteen?" he teased, smiling at her.

She returned the grin. "What can I say? I made you be really thorough with your lesson plans."

"So," he began, "which ones did I teach you? We should get working on the missing ones."

***

Vala hesitated outside Johnny's door. She couldn't deal with her daughter just yet. The pain of what had happened with Adria was still too fresh. She raised her hand to knock. Normally she would just trounce in unannounced, but today she thought the better of it. She didn't want to make a bad first impression – even if it wasn't technically the first impression for him.

She wasn't sure how she could handle the idea being a mother again. Things hadn't turned out so well for her the last time.

She couldn't believe it. Not just the suddenly-being-a-mom-again part, but that once again, she'd missed out on their childhoods. She'd missed so much with Adria because of what the Ori had done to her. Now she didn't even have anyone to blame – except herself and Daniel for thinking it would be wise to bring children onto that wretched ship.

This revelation meant that now she had three children with whom she had no real relationship. None by choice and all by these horrible forces outside her control. She knew she'd done some horrible things in her life, but did she really deserve this?

She wanted to see him, she really did, but she just couldn't make herself knock. She stood outside deliberating for quite awhile, but in the end, she just turned and went back to her own quarters, walking as nonchalantly as she could manage. Which wasn't very nonchalantly at all.

***

**MORE VALA REACTION TO COME. Don't worry, I am not going to cheat you out of it, since I've gotten several reviews about it. I just figured it was best suited for a later time. Reviews are always appreciated!!**


	6. Emotions

**Kay, so I know I've taken quite awhile to get this chapter up, but to be fair, I've been *somewhat* busy. xD Also a little lazy when it came to writing... Hopefully others will be up faster.**

**For the people of CBO. Shout out to Matt!**

**(Picks up after Daniel has visited **_**both**_** of his kids... Didn't much want to write where he meets Johnny. Too close to his meeting Emmy in many ways. Thought it'd be redundant.)**

***

Daniel sat alone in his office, pretending to be studying an artefact. In truth, he was more focused on the thoughts swirling through his head of his previous encounters with his newfound children. It was all so surreal. In less than a day his whole life had been flipped around. Not only did he suddenly have two grown kids, but there was still the startling revelation that he and Vala had spent over twenty-five years together on the Odyssey.

He took a deep breath. Him and Vala. Together. What kind of strange parallel universe was that? He tapped his pencil against the desk. If he was honest with himself, he'd liked her for quite awhile now. Sure, there had been the initial attraction during their time on the Prometheus, but a deeper bond had developed between them since her return from the Ori galaxy. He didn't like to admit it, nor would he ever say the words out loud, if he could help it, but perhaps he had even developed romantic feelings for her. Still, he was sure it could never work.

But he couldn't help the nagging feeling that perhaps their relationship worked on the Odyssey for more reasons than just the fact that they were stuck together and really didn't have many options. Maybe it could work for them in this reality too...

He shook his head, determined to focus on something else.

***

Vala laid on her bed with a magazine in front of her. She flipped through, not bothering to read the contents. She stared at the pictures and sighed, resting her forehead on her arms. She only looked up when she heard a knock on the door.

Immediately she hopped up, fixing her hair in the mirror and wiping the smear of mascara from beneath her right eye. Once she'd regained her composure, she called, "Come in."

The door opened slowly to reveal Sam, who worriedly poked her head into the room before allowing her whole body entrance. "Hey, Vala," she said, softly. "How are you?"

"Fine," Vala replied, wishing it wasn't a complete lie.

Sam hesitated a moment before entering and taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Something I can do for you Sam?" Vala asked, still not looking her friend directly in the eye.

"No, I just thought I'd check up on you. See how you're doing with everything."

Vala forced a smile, which would have passed as completely genuine for anyone who didn't know her as well as her teammate. It just didn't quite reach her eyes; there was still a hint of tragedy in them that Sam hadn't missed.

"I'm fine," Vala repeated.

Sam nodded and took a deep breath. "If you're sure," she replied, disbelievingly. She stood to leave, but stopped and turned back to her friend. She placed a hand on Vala's arm and said with a friendly smile, "If you want to talk, you know where to find me."

"Thanks Sam," Vala replied.

Sam nodded. "I've got to get back to work," she said before turning to leave.

Just like that, Vala was alone again. Sure, she knew she could have easily confided in Sam. After all, she was probably the closest thing she'd ever had to a best friend. She knew she wouldn't have told anyone or judged her harshly. It wasn't anything like that which held Vala from revealing her feelings. She still held out hope that she could convince herself everything was okay – that all of this stuff with Adria hadn't permanently drilled a hole in her heart; that she could live her life as though nothing had changed. She didn't want to deal with any of this. She _couldn't_ deal with any of this.

She laid back in her bed, allowing her head to sink into the pillow, and closed her eyes, wishing she could think of something besides the fact that she'd missed out on the growth of two more of her children. Unfortunately for her, the release didn't come until finally she was given the sweet gift of a dreamless sleep.

***

**Kay, breaking this one off here; just wanted to post an "emotions" chapter to catch up with the characters**** and to show that I haven't forgotten about this story. New chapter already in progress whereby actual action (well, no shooting or fighting, but you know what I mean) actually takes place.**

**Reviews always appreciated!!**


	7. The Talk

**Okay, here's my new chapter. Starting it right after posting the other... Hopefully it's up sooner than the last one.**** And it's VERY shippy...**

**Ask and ye shall receive. Several reviewers wanted Daniel worrying about Vala and more Sam/Vala stuff. So, I complied, for the most part. There is still more to come after this. Seriously, people, I'm a massive DV shipper. Obviously there's more ;-)**

**For the people at CBO. Shout out to Roberto – creator of the wonderful site!**

*******

Vala walked casually into the commissary and filled her tray with food before taking a seat beside Colonel Mitchell at a nearby table. She looked straight ahead at the table across from her own and immediately regretted it. Had she anticipated such a sight, she wouldn't have even entered the room. Daniel was sitting with Emmy and Johnny, chatting and laughing. She wondered how he could do it.

She froze. Johnny had spotted her. She struggled to catch her breath as he waved at her. Emmy turned to see who her brother was waving at and smiled brightly, trying to signal for her mother to come over. Daniel eventually looked back as well, though his face showed none of the enthusiasm of his children. His expression was one of concern –he could clearly see the terror in her eyes. He said something to the kids and they both nodded, turning back to their food.

Vala sat completely still for a moment, unable to hear whatever it was Cam was saying to her. When she finally regained her motor skills, she jumped up and rushed out of there, leaving her tray of untouched food on the table behind her.

***

Why was this so hard for her? If Daniel could forge a relationship with Johnny and Emmy, why couldn't she? Was she that screwed up that she couldn't even force herself to speak to her own children?

Maybe the problem was that with Johnny and Emmy, she knew they were different. They weren't like Adria. She couldn't convince herself to hate them or resent them. In another lifetime, she'd been their mother – their real mother, beyond just sharing the same DNA. She had raised them. She just had no memories of it at all. She wasn't the same mother they knew, and she was afraid of letting them down.

Vala tapped her nails against the desk as she waited for her friend to come back from lunch. She squirmed in her seat, nervously. She wasn't used to this whole confiding-in-someone thing. She hadn't had real friends in a long time.

She took a deep breath, hearing footsteps enter the room, though not daring to look up, for fear of losing her nerve. Why was it so much easier to crack inappropriate jokes or interject with sarcastic comments than it was to just tell the truth? Then she remembered. She would have taken advantage of someone's weakness, had they confided in her, and they would have done the same. Until she came here, to the SGC.

"Vala?" came Sam's voice, drenched in a combination of confusion and concern.

"Samantha!" she exclaimed in the sturdiest tone she could muster, but despite her efforts, her voice still shook.

Sam closed the door and positioned herself on a stool across from her teammate. She hesitated a moment before putting a hand on Vala's arm.

"So," Vala began, trembling slightly, "whatcha working on?"

Sam indulged her friend for the moment, spewing out scientific mumbo-jumbo which Vala clearly wasn't listening to, though her frequent nods begged to differ. Her eyes betrayed her, indicating her mind was somewhere far away from whatever Sam was saying.

"Look, Vala, you don't have to talk about this with me," Sam hesitated, "I just...I think it would help."

Vala nodded. She forced a smile. "I'm not very good at this," she mumbled.

Sam sat in silence for awhile, patiently waiting for Vala to speak.

"I have kids," Vala whispered, "and I don't even know them."

"That must be hard," Sam replied, sympathetically.

Vala shrugged, half-smiling in an attempt to withhold tears. She hated crying, especially in front of people.

"First Adria and now this," Sam said. Vala's eyes went wide with the mention of her daughter and Sam immediately regretted saying it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"No, it's okay," Vala interrupted. "You're right."

The silence returned again as Vala tried to pull herself back together. She hated that she cared about Adria – a child that was never really meant to be hers in the first place. She wasn't really even a child – not for more than a few hours, anyway. She wasn't really her daughter. Still, despite what she told herself, she couldn't help mourning the loss of the baby she'd carried inside her for so many months. All of the dreams she'd had for her daughter, until the Ori snatched them away. She hated them more for that than anything else they had done.

"Vala," Sam began, "Johnny and Emmy; they're not like Adria. You don't know them – none of us do – but they know you. They love you."

"It feels the same," was Vala's barely-audible response.

***

Daniel didn't pretend to do work that night. He was too distracted to even feign thinking of something besides Vala. He hung his head and rubbed his forehead. How could he have missed it? He should have known this would affect her so much. After what happened in the commissary today, that look of utter terror in her sweet grey eyes, he realized he couldn't imagine the kind of pain this was causing her. She'd already lost one child, but now she probably felt like she had lost two more.

"I've been such an ass," he mumbled to himself, shaking his head. He'd focused solely on his own issues that he hadn't stopped to think how she was feeling. He must've been some boyfriend on the Odyssey if he couldn't even recognize an obvious problem like this.

Daniel stood hesitantly. He paused for a moment before taking off down the hall. When he got to Vala's quarters, he froze. It didn't last long, just a fleeting instant as he raised his hand to knock. He shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting for an answer. He didn't get one. He knocked again, harder this time, but was again left without reply.

"She's out," said an airman as he passed by.

"What?"

"Vala," he replied, "she went out with Colonel Carter tonight. I saw them leave a few hours ago."

"Oh. Uh, thanks."

Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and hung his head as he journeyed back to his office.

***

Emmy rolled over in her bed, sensing a presence besides her own. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking them into focus. It was dark in her room, but she could clearly make out a tall figure with long hair and pale skin reflecting the tiny light which emanated from a small reading lamp she had left on before falling asleep.

"Mom?" she whispered.

The figure jumped and scurried out of the room, and Emmy could see the glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"Mom? Mom? Please come back!"

But the door had already closed, leaving her alone once more.

***

Daniel entered his office the next morning, obviously lacking in sleep. Emmy was perched on the side of her father's desk, waiting for him the way her mother once had. She hadn't spoken to him in days – an occurrence he hadn't experienced since her return from the Ori galaxy. His daughter may look like him and share his interests, but it was spooky sometimes they way she could emulate her mom.

She swung her legs, which were bare, indicating that she had applied alterations to the BDUs she had been given. She waited to speak until he regarded her.

"Hi," he said, distracted by his own thoughts. "What's up?"

Emmy bit her lip. "Guess who dropped by my room last night?"

He looked up, suspicious. If it was one of those airmen he'd seen her talking to yesterday, he'd kill them. "Who?" he grumbled, preparing for a surge of protectiveness for the daughter he'd only just met.

She swallowed, feeling a bit like a tattle-tale. "Mom," she replied simply.

He choked. "Vala?"

She nodded in response.

He dropped the files he'd been holding on his desk, turning all of his attention to Emerald. "How'd that go?" he asked, trying to keep his wits about him. He was a bit shocked that she'd come around so quickly, to tell the truth.

"Not well," she answered, hanging her head. "I think I scared her away." She sniffed, resuming biting her lower lip.

"What? How? What happened?"

"Well," Emmy hesitated, "I just sort of woke up and there she was."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "She came while you were sleeping?"

"I guess. As soon as she saw I was awake she ran out of the room."

Daniel looked up and noticed the tears which had formed in her eyes. "Emmy," he started, not really sure what to finish with.

"Daddy?" Emmy whispered. "Mom doesn't want to know us, does she?" she asked, sounding more like a four year-old than someone in her early twenties.

He stroked her hair in a show of support and replied, "Just give her time, okay? Don't take it personally, Em. It's hard for her to accept that suddenly has two fully-grown kids."

Emmy looked him right in the eye. "So are you," she muttered.

He hung his head. "She's still recovering from Adria. In your timeline that would have been long before your birth, but it's really fresh for her now."

"Oh, yeah," she replied softly. "I forgot..."

He nodded. "It's okay. She'll come around. Just give her time."

***

Vala was startled awake by the furious knocking at her door. She shook her head to wake herself up and pulled a robe over her skimpy pyjamas. She scowled when she caught sight of herself in the mirror – un-brushed hair and unmade face. She shuffled over to the door and huffed, sliding it open.

She was shocked by her visitor, though she probably should have been. He didn't ask for an invitation, he just walked in and crossed his arms across his chest.

"We're going to have a talk, Vala."

"Daniel, this isn't a very good time. I was just –"

"Take a seat, Vala, we're going to have a talk," Daniel interrupted.

He obviously wasn't in the mood to argue, so she just nodded and sat back on her bed. He closed the door and sat on a stool between her and the door. He was silent, and she took that opportunity.

"Are you sure talking is what you want to be doing, darling? Couldn't we just have sex instead?" she asked, only half-joking.

He stared at her without so much as a blink. "Look," he started, his voice softer than before, "Emmy's really upset about last night."

Vala looked away, preferring to focus on the chipped nail polish left over from a manicure she'd had weeks ago during an outing with Sam. "Oh," was her only muttered response.

He took a deep breath. "I know this is hard for you," he said, "but Vala, you can't go watching people sleep."

"I thought you liked that," she winked.

"Be serious. Emmy thinks you don't want her or Johnny. I told her to give you some time, but..." he trailed off.

"But?"

"But she's really hurting. She loves you."

Vala was taken aback by this statement, though she probably should have known. "She...loves me?" she squeaked.

"Yes! You're her mother, of course she loves you," Daniel replied. Vala was silent. He took the time to move beside her and take her hand. "I don't want to be hard on you," he said in a soft voice. "This is harder for you than for any of us. I know that. You don't have to see Johnny or Emmy if you don't want to – I'm just worried you'll regret it if you don't."

Vala pulled her hand away, afraid of showing her vulnerability. She swallowed hard and forced a smile. "Don't worry about me, Darling," she said rather convincingly, but he could see through it. She looked away.

"Vala?" He cupped his hand around her chin, turning her head to face him again. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. He pulled her into a hug, but she remained stiff, unsure exactly how to react. She wasn't used to him showing this kind of emotion toward her – not since she'd been burned alive had he held her so tightly, comforting her so well.

He pulled away and she felt her stomach sink as he did. She realized then that she wanted to stay in his arms...forever. She shook away the thought. It was ludicrous; completely wonko.

"Daniel?" she asked, her voice unusually shaky.

"Yes?"

"My father missed out on most of my life," she began, "and I missed out on so much of Adria's," she hesitated. "I'm afraid of how much I've already missed with Jonathan and Emerald." She waited a moment and added in a voice so small he could barely make out what she was saying, "I'm a bad mother."

Daniel's anger over what had happened with Emmy the night before had completely dissipated. He was worried about his daughter, but the woman beside him had now taken over his thoughts completely. "What happened with Adria, it wasn't the same as with Jasec. You didn't have a choice. As for Johnny and Emmy, well, they're not technically supposed to be here. They belong in the future. Neither of us got much of a choice with that one, either. Vala, you're not a bad mother, you've just been thrown into unfortunate circumstances. In fact, I'm willing to bet you'd actually make a pretty great mom," he replied.

"Really?" she asked, quietly, still unwilling to make eye contact.

"Yep."

"Thanks," she whispered. She sniffed and looked up at him. Her gaze lingered, though she hadn't intended it to. His eyes never wavered as they stared into hers. There was an intense pull between them – almost as if they were opposite sides of a magnet being brought together. They could both feel it, a power stronger than both of them as they stared into each others' eyes.

Daniel was the first to break, and he stood, gathering himself as he headed toward the door. "Goodbye, Vala," he stuttered.

She forced a grin, rather frazzled herself. "Goodbye Daniel."

***

**Hope you liked it... I'm not all too sure about the last bit, myself, but hey, DV is love for me, so I left it in. More to come soon!**


	8. Lunch

**Okay, so I **_**finally**_** know how this story is going to end. Thus, chapters should come more quickly now. I hope. ;-)**

**For the people of CBO. Shout out to Carlo!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

***

Vala lost count of the number of times she'd tried to force herself to knock on her children's doors. It still seemed too surreal, too powerful. She couldn't help that despite her talk with Daniel, some of her fear still remained. As she turned away from Johnny's door once more, she bit her lip and hopped off to the commissary, pretending nothing had just happened.

She picked up a tray full of food, unaware that everything she picked up was red, not that it really had any significance, despite matching the new polish which covered her nails. She turned, looking for a place to sit, for a comfortable face to plop down beside, but all the tables appeared to be filled with people she only barely recognized. She knew she could flirt her way into any table if necessary, but she wasn't in the mood. She was too exhausted.

As she scanned the room a second time, she saw a small table in the corner, with three people huddled together, laughing. She recognized them. She stood frozen for a moment, barely able to catch her breath, eyes focused on the table.

Her concentration was broken by an airman who knocked into her, causing her jello to splash onto the floor. She looked from the jello to him with a much angrier glare than she normally would have dawned in such a situation.

"Jeez, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed. "Let me get you a new one!"

Vala's expression softened. "Uh, no, it's okay," she stuttered, still distracted, but he was already grabbing a fresh bowl off the counter for her. He plopped it down on her tray with an apologetic smile.

She flashed a contrived smile back at him, in an effort to be kind, and nodded, "Thanks." Her eyes were still fixated on the corner table.

"Hey, would you like to join me and my friends?" the airman asked, clearly oblivious to her obvious disinterest in him.

"What? Uh, no, thanks." She smiled again and used a great deal of effort to force her legs to move toward the table. She took deep breaths to calm herself. She could do this. If she could steal a Goa'uld mothership without breaking a sweat, she could force herself to appear confident for a few minutes.

Twisting a finger around her pigtail, she approached the table with an obviously forced smile. "Can I join you?" she asked, her voice only mildly shaking.

All three heads immediately whipped to face her, not one looking any more or less shocked than the others. Johnny was the first to break his gawking and pulled out a chair for her right between him and Daniel.

"Of course," he replied. "Sit."

She obeyed, dropping her tray so fast that she almost lost her jello a second time. She held her hands to keep them from shaking and widened her grin. "So," she sang, "what are we discussing?"

As she glanced at the unfamiliar faces of her already grown children, she couldn't help but notice how much of herself she could see in them. Emmy's similarities were much more subtle, but she could still plainly see them, especially since they'd chosen to wear their hair the exact same way. She held back a shudder.

Emmy stared at her mother, mouth slightly open, as if she was trying to formulate words, but nothing was coming out. Daniel was avoiding eye contact at all costs, still feeling awkward about the events of the previous day. Johnny was the only one who didn't seem to be completely phased by her arrival – shocked, but not too much. He flashed a grin at her.

"Dad was just telling us about this thing that could be the key to defeating the Ori," Johnny replied.

"Merlin's weapon? Daniel, we tried that already," she frowned.

"No, it's some ark thing," Johnny corrected.

Vala looked at Daniel, confused. This was obviously the first she'd heard of it. "Daniel? Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged. "You've heard at the briefing." He stared down at his suddenly fascinating meat loaf – which looked nothing like meat loaf, really.

Vala shifted in her seat. She could tell that she was making everyone uncomfortable – including herself. "Oh," she replied quietly.

"I just wanted to find out more about it," Daniel added, hearing the hurt in her voice. "You would have known soon."

Vala nodded, becoming fascinated with her own food as she took a wide bite out of her apple.

Johnny and Emmy exchanged glances, sensing the tension. "So," Emmy began, biting her lip, "um, what have you been up to Mo—Vala?"

Vala's eyes snapped up, a pang of guilt ringing in her stomach that her own daughter didn't feel secure calling her 'Mom'. She quickly gulped it away. "Oh, you know, this and that," she answered. Forcing herself to form a better response, she added, "Muscles has gone off-world so I've been sparring with Cam. For someone who's fought two knights, he's certainly not very good."

"Well, you don't exactly play fair," Daniel interjected, looking up at her for the first time since she'd sat down.

Vala flashed an innocent smile. "Whatever do you mean, Darling?"

He glanced from her low-cut t-shirt back up to her face. "I think you know what I mean."

"Is it my fault that men can be so easily distracted by a beautiful woman?"

"It's one thing to use it to momentarily throw him off. It's another entirely to use the opportunity to pull out Goa'uld technology and use that to win. It's supposed to be hand-to-hand combat. Not hand-to-hand-device."

"It's more realistic my way. You think a big bad monster would wait for him to regain his bearings to torture him?"

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"You're just upset that you always lose against me too," she added with a wink. She was starting to feel more at ease now.

He shook his head, trying to shake his mind off of the outfit she'd worn the last time they'd sparred. She was right. He had been distracted. She didn't even need to use the kara kesh on him, he'd been beaten with almost no effort, though he was embarrassed to admit it.

Johnny and Emmy grinned at each other, noticing their parents weren't much different in this timeline than in theirs.

Emmy leaned toward her brother and whispered, "This sounds familiar." They burst into laughter, remembering some of the fights their parents had when they were still children.

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing," Emmy giggled.

"I don't believe you," he replied, amused.

Emmy shrugged, still laughing.

"What?" Daniel grinned.

While Daniel was preoccupied with his daughter, Vala looked from her tray to Daniel's, realizing she was no longer in the mood for tomato soup. She picked up her bowl and switched it with Daniel's chocolate cake, winking at Johnny not to tell his father. Emmy noticed, too, but a grin was already present on her face, so her expression didn't give it away. Vala took a mouthful of the cake and smiled.

Daniel turned back to his tray, his face crunching in confusion for a moment, until he turned to face the culprit. "Hey!" he exclaimed.

Vala gave a wide grin of innocence, though cake still filled her mouth. "What, Darling?" This just caused their kids to laugh even harder.

"You know what," he answered. "That's my cake!"

"Don't be greedy," she replied. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?"

"Look who's talking!" he snorted. "What would _you_ know about sharing?"

Vala picked up his fork and dug it into the cake, offering him a bite. "Want some?"

He rolled his eyes.

"What? I'm sharing," she laughed.

He just shook his head in response, rather than pointing out that it wasn't really sharing if it was his to begin with. She widened her smile, satisfied with the win. "You sure?" she asked, still waving the fork in front of his mouth. "It's very good."

He grinned, moving his mouth over the utensil and pulling the food onto his tongue.

"You sure you two aren't together?" Emmy laughed.

Daniel and Vala froze. Their eyes darted from the kids to each other and back. Vala dropped her hand and Daniel wiped his face with a napkin, quickly rising to his feet. "I, uh, have to get back to work," Daniel stuttered, his face becoming increasingly blushed. Vala sat speechless her eyes moving quickly from Johnny to Emmy. She sighed. _If only..._

"I'm sorry," Emmy whispered. "I didn't mean anything by it. Just, you two, you're so..."

"Perfect for each other," Johnny finished, looking down at his broccoli soup.

Vala rested her head in her fist. "I know," she muttered at a level that was barely audible.

Silence captured the table for awhile, as the three focused on their meals, trying to forget the awkward scene which had just taken place.

"So," Vala began, slowly, "tell me about yourselves."

***

**Okay, so I'm not too sure about this chapter... Pretty much I had a bunch of scary gibberish just running through my brain all at once and this was the result. Hope you liked it. ****Reviews are always appreciated. More to come soon.**


	9. One, Two, Three, Hop!

**Okay, so I know I said I would update faster... I lied. Well, not intentionally, I meant it at the time, but then a whole bunch of stuff happened and life got insane, so yeah. I **_**hope**_** it's true this time. I think I know what's going to happen now, I just have to be able to write it down.**

**For the people of CBO. This one's a shout out to Lauren! **

**-0-0-0-0-**

"One, two, three, _hop_!" Emmy exclaimed, taking a giant leap through the halls of the SGC.

"I don't get it," Vala remarked, biting her lower lip. "How do you win?"

Emmy laughed, "You don't _win_."

"But I thought you said it was a game. Games have winners. Otherwise what's the point, if you can't con people out of money?" Vala asked.

"It's just for fun," Johnny exclaimed. "Maybe if you'll try it, you'll understand."

Vala eyed them suspiciously. "And you say I taught you this 'game' that you can't win?"

They nodded. She signed in agreement, not wanting to disappoint them any further than she was sure she already had. She hated not being able to remember their time together on the Odyssey; not being able to remember them or their childhoods, when they so clearly remembered her. Each looped their arm through hers, so she was in the middle.

"Okay, so all you have to do is take three steps and then hop," Johnny explained.

"Ready?" Emmy asked. A nod was her response. "Okay."

She and Johnny began counting in unison, "One, two, three, _hop_!" and they all jumped. "One, two, three, _hop_!" they continued.

Vala had to admit, it was kind of fun, even if profit could not be won – or stolen – by playing.

"One, two, three, _hop_!" Vala joined in the counting. "One, two, three –"

"What are you guys doing?" asked an amused voice.

Vala whipped around to see Daniel chuckling. She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes and make a sarcastic remark. She had to admit, they probably did look rather silly hopping through the halls of a military base.

"We were showing Mom a game she taught us as children," Emmy explained.

Vala was momentarily caught off-guard by being called 'Mom', but she shook it off quickly, hoping no one had noticed the wide eyes she'd dawned.

"A game of hopping?" he asked. Eying Vala he added, "Somehow I'm not surprised."

"Try it with us!" Emmy grinned, pulling at her father's arm. At first he shook his head, but he found quickly that he couldn't refuse her. He must have been such a pushover as a dad.

"So what do you do?" he sighed.

Emmy beamed. "Three steps and a hop," she replied.

"How do you win?" he asked.

"You too?" Emmy mumbled. "You can't win. It's just fun!"

Daniel froze a second, "Vala made up a game that doesn't involve winning or swindling?"

Vala slapped his arm. "Hey! I don't do everything for profit," she replied, mocking offense.

"No, of course you don't," Daniel replied sarcastically.

She stuck her tongue out at him and to his own surprise, Daniel found himself returning the gesture.

"Come on, children, play nice," Johnny joked.

"Yeah, yeah," Vala replied. "Let's show him how to do this so he can go back to his boring artefacts."

Daniel opened his mouth to protest her statement, but decided against it. It wasn't worth an argument.

Emmy link her arm through her father's and Johnny took his mother's. "Now you two link arms," Emmy said. Daniel and Vala exchanged glances, feeling uneasy after the strange encounters they seemed to be having lately. After a moment of hesitation, they both followed instructions, pretending as if everything was still normal between them.

They set off. "One, two, three, _hop_! One, two, three, _hop_!" Counting, hopping and laughing all the way to Daniel's office.

"I feel like I'm in _The Wizard of Oz_," Daniel remarked.

"The _what _of ox?" Johnny asked.

"_The Wizard of Oz,_" Daniel corrected. "It's a movie."

"Oh I love that one!" Vala exclaimed.

"I know you do, Dorothy," Daniel chuckled. "That's all I heard about for a week after you first saw it!"

Vala shrugged.

"Hey, I have an idea," Daniel began. "What if you all come over to my place tomorrow night and we'll watch it together, since you kids haven't seen it yet."

Johnny and Emmy grinned. "Sure!" they exclaimed. "Not like we have anything else to do," Emmy joked.

"What about you, Mom?" Johnny asked. "You in?"

"Well," Vala paused, pretending to think it over, "okay, I'll be there."

"Great! See you all then!" Daniel called as he entered his office to get back to work on finding the Ark.

Vala and the kids glanced at each other. Smiling, she grabbed their arms and began pulling them along, singing, "One, two, three, _hop_!"

They grinned. This was the mother they remembered.

**-0-0-0-0-**

**Okay, so I fully intended to make this chapter longer, but my keyboard suddenly screwed itself up and I have to fix it, but I wanted to post a bit now. Movie night chapter and more to come, hopefully quickly! Hope you enjoyed this weird chapter of randomness... **

**Reviews are love!**


	10. Movie Night

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it. There will be a lot of DV from now on, I think.**

For the people of CBO. Shout out to my bestest bud online and off - Tina.

Enjoy!

**Also, if formatting is off, it's because I wrote this all on a cell phone…  
**  
-0-0-0-

"Daniel! Hurry up! It's bloody cold out here!" Vala yelled through the door. Johnny and Emmy were standing with her, shiverring. They had all been dropped off by Sam about 8 minutes before. She realized then that as cold as she was, they were likely worse off, since they weren't used to having a changing climate. She'd managed to steal some jackets from Cam and Sam for them, but it didn't seem they were doing much to help. Both looked an odd shade of blue, teeth shatterring together.

"Daniel! Your children are about to freeze to death. Open the door!" she called again, pounding harder.

"Calm down!" Daniel said, swinging open the door. "I was just taking the food out of the oven. I didn't want to set the house on fire."

"Food?" Vala grinned, slipping into the house. "What kind of food?"

"Chocolate-y food," he replied.

"Ooh, why didn't you say so, Darling?"

She skipped into his kitchen and took a fingerful of the icing that sat in a bowl on the counter. She spotted the M&M's and made a bee-line for them.

"Leave some food for the rest of us," Daniel scolded.

Vala grinned, her mouth full of the candy-coated chocolate. He shook his head and left her to her delights. In the meantime he grabbed blankets for his kids and turned the heat up a couple degrees. They really did look ill from the cold. He felt bad for making them wait.

Wrapped in blankets, Emmy reached for the popcorn, receiving a glare from her brother, who was about to do the same thing. She stuck her tongue out at him, boasting in her win.

Daniel, oblivious to what had just transpired, was busy fiddling with the DVD player, attempting to make it work. For someone so talented with alien languages and technology, he certainly wasn't very good with that of his own planet. After a few minutes of cursing in Latin under his breath, he finally jumped up, a smile of victory across his face. He had finally beaten the machine which threatened his health.

"Vala!" he called. "Movie's starting."

She swiftly entered the room, still popping bits of chocolate into her mouth. She took a seat between Emmy and Daniel, grabbing and handful of popcorn when her daughter wasn't looking. Daniel shook his head, finding himself amazed by her, though not in a disproving way. He stood to turn off the lights.

Vala couldn't help but sing along to the songs and eventually forced Daniel to join her. He seemed to be unable to turn her down, wondering at the same time when he had lost his willpower. He just couldn't stand the thought that the adorable grin might disappear from her face. After what she'd been through this past year, and especially these last few months, he realized he just wanted to see her be truly happy once again. The part of this discovery that scared him though, was the recurring thought that he wanted to be the one to make her truly happy. He tried to force the idea out of his brain, but much as he denied it, it lingered, not just waiting for, but demanding acceptance.

Vala was smiling. Not just because she loved the movie. It was more than that. She was smiling because for once, she felt part of something; part of a family. She still despised not remembering her children growing up, or even being born, and a large part of her ached in the knowing that she and Daniel may live out a different course in their relationship than they did on the ship. But for now, she allowed herself to ignore that and just enjoy being with the man she cared more about than she would ever admit willingly and the kids she'd only recently met.

When the film ended, Johnny and Emmy locked eyes and shook their heads.

"What?" Daniel asked, noticing the exchange.

"Well, it's just that..." Emmy started.

"That's almost exactly like a story you used to tell us as children," Johnny finished.

"Only, instead of Dorothy, you were the lead character," Emmy said, nodding at her mother, "and the witches were Goa'uld and Tok'ra. Etc. Etc."

"But the basic idea was the same," Johnny added.

Daniel shook his head at Vala. "Story thief!" he joked.

She opened her mouth to protest, despite knowing her own lack of innocence. She had, after all, used the story before.

"Actually, Dad, it was you that told us the story," Emmy interjected.

Vala burst out laughing at Daniel's expression. "Story thief!" she mimicked. He rolled his eyes and grinned.

"I'm starting to think neither of you are very creative," Johnny stated. "I've seen a bunch of episodes of that X-Files and they seem very familiar." He gave his mother a joking smile.

She grinned, not bothering to deny it. Hey, Daniel had done it too.

They chatted for awhile, munchin on more M&M's, until eventually Vala ate the last from the massive package. Johnny and Emmy had fallen asleep long before then, but Daniel and Vala continued laughing. He learned more about her in that one night that he probably had in the two years he'd known her. With every reply he gave, he felt a tinge of nerves that perhaps he may say something which would cause her to stop. As far as he knew, she had never confided her past in anyone. Especially not voluntarily.

Maybe it was the sugar rush, or maybe it was the knowledge that she had told him all of this before and he'd accepted her anyway, or maybe it was just that she knew him; knew he would listen, that allowed her to open up for the first time. This whole thing had forced her to grow up. Forced her to accept what had been and what may never be. She would never remember what happened on the Odyssey, but she finally accepted that what happened with Adria was not her fault. She felt oddly relieved, though she would probably never fully get over everything that happened.

She didn't disclose everything though. To be sure, she didn't even disclose the major events. She didn't tell him how Qetesh had used her body to kill her own mother or how her brother had been the first to stone her when she'd returned to her home world once freed by the Tok'ra. She left out that her fiance had married her best friend and now had six children. But she told him of the good times. How she'd skip through the fields as a kid, picking goldanias, which she found were similar to the Earth's marigolds. How she'd been known as Ribbon because she wore ribbons everyday until she was nineteen. How she'd stowed away a few times on her father's ship and visited other planets. It was nice for her to finally allow herself to remember the good times when for so long she'd only focused on the bad.

She talked until she'd talked herself to sleep. He was listening, which was what he did best. She curled up and closed her eyes. He didn't bother to wake her when she moved, burying her face in his leg. He just leaned his own head back and closed his eyes. Before drifting off, he thought to himself how lucky he was to be the only one to know this side of Vala. Normally she'd run before allowing anyone to get this close. Before allowing herself to be even a fraction as vulnerable as she'd become recently.

Daniel awoke with a start with the sound of clanging metal. He shook off the sleep and got up to follow the noise into the kitchen. He smirked when he saw Vala there, frowning into his fridge, pans piled up on the counter beside her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She whipped around. "You have nothing in here!" she exclaimed.

"I know," he replied. "I'm usually at the base, so..."

She looked at him questioningly. "Then how did you bake last night?"

He grinned and she noticed the take-out menus on the table. She looked at him with mock disapproval.

"They were just keeping warm in the oven," he explained.

She rolled her eyes. "Guess I won't be making anything for the kids," she replied.

He pulled out a box of Pop Tarts. "These ought to suffice," he said.

She frowned, but was secretly thankful she didn't have to cook. She was a great chef, but she rarely ever enjoyed it. She far preferred others catering to her needs.

-0-0-0-

"Should we tell them now?" Emmy asked, her tone more serious than normal.

Johnny nodded. "We have to at some point. May as well do it before Sam tells them."

Emmy nodded back. "Yeah, you're right."

"Breakfast!" Vala exclaimed as she walked in, balancing a tray of Pop Tarts on her left hand. One of the few times she got to use the skila she'd picked up at Sol's Diner. She gracefully put it on the coffee table in front of them. Daniel followed with four glasses and a jug of milk.

Johnny and Emmy exchanged looks.

"What?" Daniel asked, having noticed this. He and Vala took their seats.

"We have something to tell you..." Emmy began.

"Okay," Vala replied, hesitantly.

"Uhm, well," Emmy began, "we have some news."

Vala's eyes narrowed.

"Well, I mean, we can't... We've been given an opportunity," Johnny said.

"What kind of opportunity?" Daniel asked.

"A great one!" Emmy exclaimed.

"That's not what I meant," Daniel replied.

"I know," Emmy said. "Well, we've gotten jobs."

Vala raised her eyebrows. "Jobs?" she repeated.

"With Stargate Command..." Johnny said.

"Science jobs," Emmy added.

"So you're working with Sam?" Daniel asked.

"Not exactly," Emmy replied. "I mean, kind of... Sometimes..."

"Okay, great," Vala replied, clapping her hands together and reaching for a Pop Tart.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something more?" Daniel asked, suspicious. Vala froze, looking up at her children.

"Well... There is," Emmy answered nervously.

"The job isn't..." Johnny began. "It isn't on Earth, exactly."

"What?" Daniel coughed.

"We can't stay here. We've already messed up enough by letting you know who we are," Johnny explained.

"So you're going off-world? To where?" Vala questioned.

"Just to the Alpha site," Emmy responded.

Vala nodded. "But we like having you here," she whispered, half-choking.

"We'll miss you a lot," Emmy replied, "but we've already messed up the timeline enough. We aren't supposed to be here."

"We were just too selfish to let ourselves vanish. But we're not so selfish as to stop you from living your lives," Johnny added.

"We have to go..." Emmy stated.

Vala nodded and took a bite from her Pop Tart, pouting. Daniel mumbled that he understood and reached for a tart of his own.

"When do you leave?" Vala asked.

Emmy winced. Johnny cleared his throat. "Tomorrow," they answered together.

-0-0-0-

**Okay, I hope you liked it!! Reviews are love!!**


	11. Going, going, gone

**This is a short chapter, but there's more on the way quickly (hopefully), as my inspiration suddenly returned to me today while I should have been studying Socrates.**

**For the people of CBO. For Meagan and Zoe (again) because they're such faithful readers! :-)  
**  
-0-0-0-

"Vala?" Daniel called, knocking on her door. "Vala, they're leaving soon!"

She wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffed, shaking her sadness away. For the moment, at least. She plastered a big smile across her face and opened the door.

"Hi!" she exclaimed.

"Hi..." Daniel replied, wary of her cheery tone.

She hopped out past him, unwilling to answer to him. She trotted down the hall. He had to jog to catch up to her. He thought he saw the remnants of tear stains on her cheek, but he said nothing.

They entered the gateroom. Johnny and Emmy already had their backpacks on. They all wished they were leaving a little later so there was time for a last meal together. Anything. But they were bringing much-needed supplies to their soon-to-be co-workers, so they had to leave early.

They'd spent as much of the previous day together as possible. They'd only barely finished their breakfast when Vala insisted she take them shopping for supplies. Of course, they didn't really need anything that wouldn't be supplied by the SGC, but she talked both of them into allowing her (Daniel) to buy them soft, puffy teddy bears and some pajamas. However, it had also somehow resulted in Daniel unwillingly buying her a sapphire necklace and a black pair of heels with a crystal bow on the back. He'd also come within an inch of allowing her to get the tiny kitten she'd been eying, but stopped himself before he gave in.

They went for a late lunch after the shopping expedition and chatted for awhile before Johnny and Emmy stood and announced they needed to pack. Of course, Vala had offered to help, but they turned her down.

Now here they stood together, for what they all knew would likely be the last time.

Vala rocked awkwardly back and forth on her heels. She could hear Walter announcing each chevron as the gate entered a dialing sequence.

It seemed so soon. She'd just gotten to a place where she finally felt comfortable around them, finally felt that maybe she wasn't a complete screw-up, and now they were leaving. She'd only gotten to be a mother for a few days... Inwardly, she kicked herself for not facing her fears sooner.

It wasn't as though Daniel wasn't sad to see Johnny and Emmy leaving. It wasn't that at all. It was just that he understood better that they weren't meant to be there. He'd been through it before. Still, part of him wanted to drag them by the ears back to their quarters and lock them in.

Johnny and Emmy too shared similar feelings, but they knew if they didn't go soon, their parents would never go back to the timeline they were supposed to be in. They would continue in this almost paradoxical one, caring for fully-grown children who had yet to be born. They were the outsiders and since they had no logical way of going to their own time - since they really didn't fit in anywhere - they could at least go as far away as possible and hope they hadn't screwed everything up entirely.

"Chevron 5 encoded," Walter boomed.

Emmy looked toward the gate and sighed.

"We'll miss you," she said.

Vala nodded, refraining from using that as an excuse to keep them there at the base. Deep down, she understood too, not that she would ever like it.

"We'll miss you too," Daniel replied for both of them.

"Take care of yourselves," Vala forced herself to say, a tight smile keeping the frown away. "Stay out of trouble. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she winked.

They all chuckled.

"Will do," Emmy answered.

"Don't get yourselves captured by any armies while we're gone," Johnny joked.

"Chevron 7 is locked!"

"Guess that's our signal," Emmy said, turning to face the gate.

"Indeed," Johnny agreed. They stood in an awkward silence for a moment. Johnny pulled his mother into a hug and Emmy did the same to Daniel. Then they switched, clutching each other tightly for longer than normal. Finally, they all released each other and the kids headed toward the gate. Daniel pulled Vala under his arm, partially to comfort her and partially to comfort himself; to remind himself that he still had someone, after so many others had gone.

They waved and stepped through the wormhole before they could change their minds. Soon, the event horizon disappeared and Daniel and Vala were left alone in the room.

For a moment, she allowed herself to remain in his arms, buried in his chest, breathing in his scent. But it wasn't long before she broke free, taking off down the hall. He'd barely noticed she'd disappeard from his grasp before realizing she was no longer even in sight. He sighed, debating whether or not to go after her. It didn't take him much time to decide, considering he knew he would eventually do it anyway. He broke out in a run, headed toward her quarters.

He knew her and because of this, he knew she more than upset; she was heartbroken. He also knew that she wouldn't want him to see her that way. He didn't care about the last part. She'd hid her emotions too long, and he hated the thought of her suffering in silence, especially since he was suffering too, despite his calm features.

He pulled a keycard from his pocket, thankful he'd thought to get it from General Landry. He swiped it in front of the door, allowing himself entrance.

Vala looked up. "Daniel?" she gasped, immediately turning away to wipe the tears from her eyes. "How'd you get in here?" she exclaimed.

"I've known you for two years... You should know by now you're not the only one with tricks up their sleeve." He took a seat beside her. "You don't have to hide," he said, "just talk to me."

"Go away."

"No."

"You're in _my_ quarters! I don't want you here, so go!"

"No."

"Can't a girl get some privacy?"

"Vala? Really? How many times have you shown up uninvited to my quarters?"

"This is different Daniel!"

"Why? Because I'm not trying to seduce you? Because instead I'm trying to help you?"

"I don't need help! I'm fine on my own."

He shook his head. "I'm not saying you're incapable of taking care of yourself. I'm trying to show you that you don't have to! You stopped physically running but emotionally you never let anyone in. I'm here, I'm offering to listen, but you push me away."

"I don't want to talk! I never asked you to come here. Stop thinking you know what's best for me!"

He shook his head. "You don't mean that," he said. "I know you, Vala. You've been lying to me since we met! I thought we were finally making some progress here, but evidently I was wrong."

She snorted in response.

"Well you know what? I'm done! I'm so sick of these stupid games you play! If you want to shut yourself off from the world and bounce around like a little girl in pigtails, pretending like nothing's wrong, then be my guest. I won't try to stop you anymore."

He sighed and left the room. Left her there alone, crying harder now than she had before. She wanted to chase after him, curl up in his arms and tell him everything. But instead she stayed staring at the wall, sobbing like an infant.

-0-0-0-

**Ooh a cliffhanger! xD Don't worry, next chapter is already in progress. Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are love! ;-)**


	12. Real

**Okay, only one or two chapters remain now, so you won't have to wait TOO long for the ending ;-). Enjoy!**

For the people of CBO!! Can't wait for November!!

-0-0-0-

It was days before they entered the same room as each other. It was a week before they made eye contact, even though it was entirely by accident. It was almost a month before they uttered a word to one another, when Vala cracked to correct Daniel on an unimportant fact about the people they were currently visiting. It was almost another week after that when Vala showed up at Daniel's office.

She didn't say anything. She just walked in and took a seat on the stool across from him. She fiddled with a piece of rock that sat in front of her.

"Don't touch that!" he scolded. "It's a priceless artefact!"

She dropped it and rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't throw around terms like 'priceless' when you mean 'no one would ever want to buy it.'"

He shook his head and huffed, trying to keep his attention on the translation he was currently working on. She tapped her fingers against her cheek.

They sat in silence for several minutes. Vala considered getting back up and leaving, finding Sam and just forgetting about Daniel, but she forced herself to stay. She twirled a pigtail around her finger and sighed.

"Whatcha workin' on?" she asked, half trying to break the tension, half trying to relieve her boredom.

"A translation."

"Ah. Say anything interesting?"

"Nothing you would find interesting, but the historical value is immense," he replied in a condescending tone.

She nodded. "Don't pretend you know me, Daniel."

He looked up at her. "Sorry," he muttered, reluctantly, turning away to avoid her glare.

There was silence again.

"So," he began, "you ready to talk yet?"

"Can't we just let that go?"

"Nope."

Vala sighed, dropping her head and turning to leave. Daniel watched her go for a long while - and kept on watching for a glimpse of her long after she disappeared. Then, with a shake of his head he turned back to his work and hoped he was doing the right thing.

-0-0-0-

Another eight days passed before anything happened. Anything of substance, anyhow. There were a few moments of eye contact, slightly less awkward speech, but no conversations or anything which required more than the necessary interaction.

Daniel opened the door to his quarters, making no attempt to stifle a yawn. He'd been working for way too long without a break, but he'd made some fascinating discoveries.

He jumped when he saw a dark-haired figure sitting back on his bed.

"Vala? What are you doing here?"

She stood and began approaching him. "Oh, Daniel, I'm sick of this," she moaned. "Can't we just make up already?"

She pulled him into a kiss. For a moment, he fell for it, until he felt a hand unbuttoning his jeans. He pulled back.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed.

"I've been watching a lot of your television, Daniel. This is how people make up on your world, isn't it?"

"No, Vala, and you know that. I told you I was sick of these games. I'm not interested in this..." he waved his hands wildly around her general form "...this front of yours."

"What are you talking about?"

He stopped and stared at her. "Give me something real."

"But Daniel, sex is so much more fun than serious talking."

He gave her a disproving look.

"C'mon Daniel, what's the problem? Don't you like girls?"

"Yes."

"So? Then what's the problem? Unless... You really don't find me attractive..."

He shifted. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"No." She backed away and began to leave the room.

"Do you honestly believe that this could ever work?"

"I, uh, wasn't suggesting..."

"Oh, you weren't... So what? We sleep together once and then what? Just go on as though nothing happened? We work together! Honestly, even saying that part seems unbelievable." He began pacing. "I can't even imagine what a relationship with you would be like at this point. Okay, yes, you've proven yourself to be trustworthy, but you've closed yourself off to the world. How could a relationship work like that? I mean, at best, you're an emotionally unstable wreck. I'm not saying I'm much better... I'm not saying I'm much better... There was a time when I thought I would never get over my wife. I mean, the idea of being hurt that way again... But I finally - finally! - got to the place where for the first time in a long time I feel like I could actually get close to somebody again. But never, never could that person be you! I mean, we are so completely opposite and wrong for each other! It's not even funny! And the worst part, the worst part is: you know that! And this whole flirty sexual thing that you do...it's just your way of having fun at my expense or of avoiding your real issues! And don't you dare pretend it's anything else!"

He snapped back to reality, barely believing that he'd just said all that. She was facing the wall away from him and he could hear her audible gulps as she tried to wipe away tears.

"Don't pretend like you're hurt," he sighed.

She nodded. "Just give me a minute."

He sat down beside her. "Look at me," he said.

She shook her head.

"Vala... Look at me, please." He gently pulled her chin toward him. He was slightly shocked to see the genuine sadness in her eyes. She pulled her head away and closed her eyes. She wanted to say something, but he'd just broken her heart into a million pieces. She wanted to leave. If he truly didn't want her, then maybe it would be best if she left the SGC.

He broke her train of thought when he pulled her chin back again. She opened her eyes in defeat. They grew angry for a moment upon seeing his smile. He thought this was amusing?!

The anger dissolved almost instantaneously as he pulled her into a kiss. "You better not be messing with me," he mumbled.

She wasn't. She'd loved him for so long and everything with Johnny and Emmy had only increased that. She was slightly amazed he hadn't figured that out before.

-0-0-0-

When Vala woke the next morning, it took her a moment to realize where she was and that the events of the prior night hadn't been just a dream. Daniel's presence beside her was proof of that. She nuzzled into his chest and tapped his arm to wake him up.

"Mmm," he stirred. He looked down to see Vala nestled under his arm. He smiled.

"I'm ready to talk now," she whispered. "If you still want to listen..."

"Of course," he replied.

-0-0-0-

When she finished, she looked up at him, waiting for his appraisal. He didn't say much, he just kissed her head and whispered, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that."

She nodded and closed her eyes as she once again fell back against his chest.

"Thanks for sharing with me," he whispered. "I'm sorry for being so hard on you...I just –"

"I know," she interrupted.

She traced a finger along his arm. It felt good to get it all off her chest. She was so worried he would judge her, and it felt good knowing he didn't.

"I'm hungry!" she exclaimed, suddenly hopping out of bed and throwing on her clothes. She pulled her sweater down over her tank as she opened the door. Cam shot her a weird look as she passed him in the hallway. He halted in place and feigned gagging when Daniel quickly followed her out of the room, stumbling as he pulled on a shoe. Neither seemed to notice he was there, and if they did, they gave no indication of it. They simply walked off to the commissary hand in hand.

"Gross," Cam muttered as he continued walking on his way to meet Teal'c for some sparring.

-0-0-0-

**That's it for this chapter folks! Next one is about halfway completed already.**

A/N: I didn't really want to copy the scene from Unending, but I wanted to begin drawing parallels, so basically I did, but just tweaked some of it for the situation. 

**Hope you liked it! Reviews are love!**


	13. Not So Different

**Okay, so this takes place probably two or three months after the last chapter.**

**For the people of CBO. I love chatting with fellow Gaters and Scapers!! You're all Claudtastic ;-)**

-0-0-0-

"Daniel! Let me in!" Vala whined as she knocked on his door. As it slid open she scowled, "What took you so long?!"

He rubbed his eyes and squinted at her. "Sorry, I just woke up."

She pushed past him and collapsed on his bed, burying herself in his sheets. He laid down beside her, but she didn't bother looking up at him, just moved closer.

"Mmm," she groaned. "You stink!"

"What?"

"You stink!" she repeated, pushing herself up and away from him.

"You bought me this aftershave!" he exclaimed, confused.

She shook her head and ran toward the bathroom, shoving the door closed behind her. He quickly followed, though found that she'd locked him out.

"Vala? You okay?"

He got no response but the sound of her gagging and throwing up.

"What's wrong? Vala?"

He heard the toilet flush and water running for a moment. When she emerged from the bathroom, he noticed that her features had become even paler than usual and she had dark circles beneath her eyes. He took her arm and led her out of the room.

"Ugh, let go of me, you smell!" She waved a hand in front of her face and breathed to the other side, still gagging slightly. "Where are you taking me?"

"To the infirmary," he replied. "Obviously something is wrong!"

She stopped, pulling her arm free and backed up for a moment. "Nothing's wrong," she told him.

"You were just vomiting," he retorted, "I wouldn't call that nothing, would you?"

"No," she answered. She hesitated a moment. "I'd call it pregnant."

He gawked at her for a second before speaking. "Pregnant?"

She nodded.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, unable to contain the smile that was beginning to form.

"Johnny," he mumbled. "You're pregnant with Johnny."

Her grin widened. "I guess the timeline really hasn't changed all that much."

He smiled and reached to hug her. She backed up further and held out her arms to stop him, a disgusted look crossing her face. "Not until you shower!"

He grinned and jogged off to wash off the aftershave which had made her so sick. She turned to go back to his quarters to sleep. She'd barely gotten any rest the nights before.

It seemed only minutes before Daniel laid his hand on her shoulder, waking her from her dreamless slumber. She looked up at him miserably.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I just wanted to tell you the team is going to O'Malley's tonight to celebrate Jack's retirement if you wanted to come." He paused, looking her over. "But maybe you should rest. I'll stay here with you."

She shook her head. "No, go," she mumbled. "I just want to sleep. Just don't tell them without me, kay?"

"You sure? I can stay..."

"No," she replied.

He studied her a moment. "Okay. If you're sure."

She nodded, still not bothering to lift her head. "Try not to miss me too much," she smiled before drifting back to sleep.

He slid out quietly.

-0-0-0-

"Whoa, go easy there Danny Boy!" Jack laughed as Daniel reached for his fifth beer.

"Yeah Jackson, we know you can't hold your booze and we don't want you spilling any intimate details about your relationship with Princess. I don't think any of us need that!" Cam chuckled.

Daniel grinned.

"Speaking of, is Vala okay? She doesn't usually miss out on a good time in favor of sleep," Sam remarked.

"Yeah, she's just not feeling well. Morning sickness and all that," he slurred.

"Morning sickness?" Sam repeated, almost choking on her water.

His grin widened before he slapped a hand to his forehead and dropped his head. He looked up at them, his smile gone. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

They chuckled.

"We'll keep your secret, Danny," Jack replied.

"Well you've had enough practice, I guess I can trust you," he replied.

"What?" Jack asked.

Daniel looked between Jack and Sam. "Nothing," he laughed.

Sam and Jack exchanged looked. "What?" Sam sputtered.

"I believe Colonel Carter that Daniel Jackson is referring to your relationship with O'Neill," Teal'c remarked with a slight smile and a nod.

Sam blushed.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Jack winked.

"Yep, you're the picture of discretion," Daniel mumbled. "You know, you don't have to hide it now that you've retired Jack. Or is this another temporary one?"

"It's for real this time. Hey, that's right!" Jack exclaimed. "We don't!" He pulled Sam into a kiss, while the others cheered.

Sam's cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink.

"Been wanting to do that for years!" Jack grinned.

-0-0-0-

"Vala? You okay?" Sam asked, approaching the table where Vala sat with her face down, forehead resting on her arm.

"Mmm," she groaned, looking up to face her teammate. "I'm fine."

Sam raised her eyebrows, dropping her tray and taking a seat. "Okay."

Vala looked at the tray and shot her a suspicious grin, having suddenly perked up.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I'm hungry..."

"And...?"

"I was thinking perhaps you may want to share with a sexy dark-haired alien?" Vala sang.

"Well the 'sexy' thing doesn't do much for me, but you can have some if you want."

"Thanks Samantha!" Vala grabbed the spoon from her empty tray and took a spoonful of oatmeal. She made a face. "This stuff tastes much better in cookie form," she remarked. She dug into the blue jello. A thought hit her. She took the spoonful of jello and then dunked it in the oatmeal before shoving it in her mouth.

Sam gagged. "What did you just do?!"

Vala grinned. "What? It tastes good! Try it!" she said, repeating the process.

"No thanks," Sam replied, wrinkling her nose. "I didn't think weird pregnancy cravings would kick in so early!"

Vala froze. Sam's eyes widened and her hand shot to her mouth. Vala dropped her spoon.

"Daniel is so dead!" she exclaimed, jumping up from the table.

Sam opened her mouth to defend Daniel, but she realized there wasn't really anything she could say to stop Vala when she was on a mission. Instead she turned back to her food, deciding that maybe her friend was onto something. She dipped a spoonful of jello into the oatmeal and popped it into her mouth. She made a face and spat it immediately into her napkin. Her first impression was definitely correct.

-0-0-0-

By now, Daniel was used to finding Vala on his bed when he came back from work. What he wasn't used to was the angry glare she was giving him while her arms remained folded at her chest, foot tapping against the covers.

He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but he stopped himself, realizing he already knew. So much for discretion. Whoever told her would have to pay for this.

She didn't speak, choosing instead to continue giving him the iciest look she could muster. It would have been much more effective if she wasn't feeling incredibly nauseous now from the combination she'd created earlier. Thankfully, she could credit herself with a fairly good acting ability, and he looked pretty scared of her - that was a first, and it definitely gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling of satisfaction.

Daniel hesitantly took a seat at the foot of the bed, unsure exactly what he could say to rectify the situation.

"You told them! I can't believe you told them! I asked you to wait," she snapped.

"I know." He hung his head. "I'm sorry."

"I wanted to tell them together!" she pouted.

"I know. I should have known better than to drink so much, then I would've kept it a secret."

"I mean I really wanted to tell them together."

"I'm so sorry Vala. I didn't mean to, it just slipped out."

She huffed. "I've been taken off active duty because of you."

"What? I mean, that's probably for the best, but how is that my fault? I only mentioned it to Jack and the rest of SG-1. Not Landry."

"I know..." She looked at the ceiling.

"Did one of them tell him?"

"No..."

He raised his eyebrow. "Did you tell him?"

"Well, he and Carolyn were the only ones who didn't know! I wanted to at least tell someone!"

Daniel stifled a laugh at her pout. "So essentially you got yourself taken off active duty..." he pointed out.

"No, it's still your fault because I wouldn't have had to tell them if you could just learn to hold your liquor. We're really going to have to work on that..."

"After the baby's born," he agreed.

She was still pouting.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "What will it take to make it up to you?"

She knew it was a mistake. In fact, she'd already forgiven him - mostly - but the opportunity now presented itself: to have Daniel liberate some jewelry from those shops she always passed while out with Sam. IF there was one word to describe Vala, it was definitely _opportunist_.

"I can't be bought Daniel."

"I know, I wasn't implying..."

"But, now that I think about it, if you want to show me you're really sorry," she grinned, "there was a gorgeous bracelet I saw a few days ago."

"How about a ring instead?" he asked, sensing an opportunity of his own.

"I don't know, I mean, I love all kinds of treasure, but this bracelet...It's just calling to be liberated..." she trailed off.

He glided over to the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out a small box. "How about this ring?" he asked, getting down on one knee.

"Ooh, very sparkly!" she mused. "But really, you should see it! It's rimmed with emeralds in white gold. And it's got a matching necklace, too!"

"Vala," he interrupted. "This ring is more than just a make-up gift. It was my mother's engagement ring, and I was hoping perhaps you would take it as yours."

She blinked, only just figuring out what was going on.

"Vala Mal Doran, will you marry me?"

She looked from him to the ring and back to him. Her mouth hung open slightly but didn't make a sound. Her only response was a nod.

"Is that a 'yes'?" he grinned.

She nodded again and began to smile. "Yes!"

-0-0-0-  
**  
One more chapter to come after this! Okay, so maybe two because I'm a long-winded DV addict… Hope you liked it :-). Reviews are love! ;-)**


	14. Looking Toward the Future

**Hi!**

So this is either the last or second-to-last chapter. You'd think I'd know, but I really don't.

Also, this has taken so long due to midterms, technology continuously erasing parts or even the whole of this chapter, papers and the death of my grandmother. RIP Marie Bell 3

For the people of CBO. The con was epic and I loved meeting all of you! Of course, now I have PCDS (yes, still!) and miss all of you terribly… We gotta do that again sometime! Soon ;-)  
  
-0-0-0-

"Samantha!" Vala called. "Wait up!"

Sam turned to face her teammate. "Vala, what's up?"

Vala held up her hand.

"You got a new ring?" Sam asked, confused.

"No, well, yes," Vala replied, "it's an engagement ring!"

"Well, then it goes on your left hand," she replied. Then it registered as Vala switched hands. "Wait, you and Daniel are engaged?"

Vala nodded excitedly. Sam pulled her into a hug. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks! Oh, there's Cam, gotta go!" Vala hopped off.

-0-0-0-

"You told everyone?" Daniel exclaimed.

Vala shrugged.

"Was that your way of getting back at me?" he asked.

"No, I just didn't want you to beat me to it this time. Okay, maybe a little, but mostly what I said."

He smiled. "I guess I can't really blame you," he said. "Although next time we have news, we should tell people together."

She shrugged. "We'll see."

-0-0-0-

"I like this one!" Vala exclaimed from the change room.

"Come out and let me see!" Sam exclaimed.

Vala emerged, the entire gown sparkling in the light from the crystals that had been sown into the bodice. Sam coughed. It was pretty ugly. She forced a smile.

"I dunno, I like the last one," she replied.

"But it's so sparkly!" Vala protested. "Muscles?" she whined, hoping for a better response.

"I believe the last ten," Teal'c stressed that word, "were better suited for you, Vala Mal Doran."

She frowned. "I guess."

"How about this one?" Carolyn emerged, holding a silky white dress in her arms. It was a long-sleeved off-the-shoulder number with subtle crystal flowers lining the neckline. Matching flowers caused the ruffles in the long skirt. It was possibly the most beautiful dress that Vala had ever seen. Perfect for her winter wedding.

"Wow," Vala breathed..

"Where'd you find that?" Sam asked. "I haven't seen it and we must have been through this store at least three times."

"Shoved behind about a hundred other dresses," she replied. "I think someone was hiding it..."

Vala grinned, "Not anymore!" She snatched the dress from her friend's grasp and quickly disappeared into the changeroom.

"How ya doing there, Teal'c?" Sam asked. He gave her a familiar stoic expression, though she could tell he was not amused by the girls dragging him with them to six different stores, in which Vala had made a point to try on at least half the dresses in each shop. She sighed. She was getting rather bored as well.

"So what do you think?" Vala boomed.

Sam whipped around. "Wow..." she mumbled. "You look fantastic!"

Vala grinned.

Carolyn smiled smugly. "Called it."

"Muscles? What do you think?"

"It is my opinion, Vala Mal Doran, that this dress is most suitable for you." He smiled at her, at least, it was as much of a smile as anyone would get out of the Jaffa.

Vala's grin widened. "Thanks Carolyn!" she exclaimed, pulling her into a tight hug.

"You're welcome," Carolyn replied, struggling to break free.

"So you're getting that one?" Sam asked a little too enthusiastically.

Vala nodded ferociously.

"Finally," Carolyn muttered under her breath.

-0-0-0-

"Daniel?" Vala asked, frowning as she stared at herself in the mirror.

"Yeah?" He looked up, expecting her to complain about the weight she was gaining – although she looked even more beautiful to him than ever – or something along those lines. Instead, she turned to him, biting her lip and holding one hand over her barely noticeable bump.

"What if I'm not the same?" she squeaked in a barely audible tone.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"What if I'm not the same mom that Johnny and Emmy remember? What if I'm not as good?" she whispered, looking at the floor instead of him. He studied her, trying to think of the right words to make her feel better. He stood and walked over to her, pulling her down to sit on the bed with him.

"Listen to me Vala," he said. "You'll be a great mother. Johnny and Emmy loved you in their timeline and they'll love you in this one. Just because our situation has changed, doesn't mean you have.."

"What if I have, though? What if they only thought I was good because they had no one to compare me with? Or because I never had the opportunity to run away and disappoint them."

His brow furrowed. "Do you want to run away?" he asked, slightly alarmed.

She shook her head. "I don't want to be like my father," she replied, even more quietly than before.

"You won't be," Daniel stated. "I won't let you get away that easily." He shot her a grin and she half-heartedly returned the gesture. He pulled her into a hug and buried himself in her thick hair. "I love you, so you better never leave me."

She snorted. "I was just about to say the same to you," she mumbled in response.

-0-0-0-

"Here are the saltines you wanted." Sam held out a plate of crackers.

Vala took them with a slight forced grin. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine," Vala replied, unconvincingly.

"You don't look it."

"What?" She jumped up from the bed and stared in the mirror, examining herself for imperfections. She was dressed in the gorgeous white gown, with a flowered crystal barrette holding back her wavy hair. Her make-up was flawless and her pale pink nail polish was still unchipped. She turned to face Sam, confused.

"Well you look gorgeous, yes, but you also look very ill."

Vala sighed. "Crap. I can't be sick on my wedding day...again..."

Sam took a seat next to her friend. Rubbing a hand along Vala's arm, she said, "If you want to postpone the ceremony, I'm sure Daniel will understand."

Vala shook her head. "No."

"It'll be okay. It's not a big venue..."

"No. I want to marry him now," she said in a stubborn tone. "I'll be fine." She took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face. "I'll be fine," she repeated to herself.

-0-0-0-

Cam stood at the top of the ramp, behind alter they'd made with a goofy grin plastered across his face. He'd been ordained online the prior week. To his left, stood Daniel, who was biting back a goofy grin of his own. Behind him was Jack, who seemed to be more preoccupied with finding the cake than anything else.

The team had been surprised to discover that Carolyn was actually quite a talented violinist, and had put her in charge of the music for the ceremony. The violin slowed into a soft tune as Sam appeared from behind the gate room doors. She smiled at Jack and used her eyes to send him a warning to pay attention. She felt satisfied with her victory as he stood to attention.

Everyone stood as the brunette bride entered, with one of the first genuinely happy expressions Daniel had ever seen. He couldn't help letting out the one he'd been holding back. On her arm was General Landry - since, despite his efforts, she'd refused to invite her own father. Not that he could blame her. He just felt bad that most of the guests were his friends, though he guessed she knew that, as he'd been puzzled to see two young airmen who, as far as he knew, had only talked to Vala twice.

He took her by the arm up to the front. Looking into his beautiful blue eyes almost made her forget how sick she was feeling. They exchanged smiles.

"Dearly beloved," Cam exclaimed enthusiastically, "we are gathered here to join together Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran in holy matrimony."

They didn't much listen to anything Cam was saying. He could have been marrying them to a zebra and they wouldn't have noticed. Vala was busy focusing on not throwing up or passing out and Daniel was trying to figure out why she was only giving him a fake smile. He studied her face, worried for a moment. He snapped out of it when it was time to say his vows.

"When my wife died, I thought I'd never find love , that I'd never be capable of feeling that way ever again." She frowned slightly as he continued. "But when I met you, I couldn't help but fall for you. And for years I tried to deny it - afraid of being hurt again. But after seeing you with Johnny and Emmy... Seeing how you'd become not only someone who brought immense joy into my being but also someone I can trust with my life and with my heart. I won't ever hurt you. I'll always love you. And I'll shut up now because you're giving the oh-you-and-your-ramblings look."

At Cam's prompting, Vala straightened up and began her own vows. "I always knew you wanted me," she giggled. "I'm not that easy to resist darling," she winked. Resisting the urge to crack inappropriate jokes, she decided to be serious for once. She cleared her throat. "For years, I was alone. I was a free agent, living only for myself - never letting anyone in. I thought I'd live like that forever, until you showed me a place I could call home. You were my first real friend in a long time. I...I love you Daniel. And I always will." She smiled shyly - something no one was used to.

They smirked as Cam wiped a tear from his eye. "Do you Daniel take thee Vala to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Do you Vala take thee Daniel to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"You may now kiss the bride!" Cam exclaimed, clapping as Daniel pulled his new wife into a deep kiss.

They signed some papers and took off out of the gateroom. They crashed on Vala's bed, laughing as they hit the mattress. They looked at one another, grinning. Daniel laid his hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him for a moment, then pulled back.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Morning sickness. Er... Afternoon sickness, I guess."

"Oh," he paused and laid a hand on her stomach. "Johnny! Are you makin' your mommy feel icky?"

"Icky?" Vala teased. "That's a word I never thought I'd hear you use, Daniel."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," he winked.

"We'll see about that. You're not that good a liar Doctor Jackson."

She bit her lip before leaning back into the kiss.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Much."

-0-0-0-

"Push!" Carolyn exclaimed.

"I am pushing!" She resisted the temptation to curse, though she did mutter some choice Goa'uld phrases under her breath.

"Come on Vala, just one more!"

Using all her strength, she pushed as hard as she could. When she finally stopped, she took a deep breath, gasping for air. Why hadn't she remembered how painful it was the last time? Her train of thought was broken as she saw Daniel cutting the chord and looking very puzzled as he stared at the crying baby.

"What's the matter Daniel?" she asked, terrified something was wrong with their child.

"I, uh... I guess we did change the timeline..."

"What? Wh-why do you say that?"

"Because I'm about to introduce you to our daughter," he replied, a grin spreading across his face as he wrapped the baby in a blanket and handed her off to his wife.

"Our daughter?" she repeated. He nodded. "This is Emmy?" He nodded again.

Although she was still a bit confused, she couldn't help but grin as she stared into her baby's bright blue eyes.

"She's beautiful," Vala whispered.

"Just like her mother," Daniel replied. She looked up at him and grinned a moment before turning her attention back to her daughter - her second chance at being a good mother.

-0-0-0-

**Okay, so there's only a little more to come in the epilogue. So sorry for the massive wait between chapters... Hope you liked it!**

Reviews are love!  



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